Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Cuts Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,960,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,662 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.25% of Duke Energy worth $190,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Romano Brothers AND Company grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 84,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,171,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $4,522,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 21,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $468,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $94.90 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.14. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $100.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.25.

Duke Energy Profile

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.